This project provided complete passage at three fish barriers located on the Wilson Banner Ranch in the Alpowa Creek drainage. The ranch is located less than a mile from the Snake River and opened up a long reach into the upper watershed. At the time of this project Alpowa Creek was believed to contain a limited numbers of Snake River ESU Steelhead and other native fish species. The barriers were created by placing block dams in the main stream channel on an annual basis for the purpose of irrigating orchards and truck farm. The dams completely block the creek during the irrigation season and severely restrict migration during other times of the year.

In total three barriers were modified to provide passage meeting the WDFW standards for passage in Washington. The project was completed under two grants from the SRFB due to unexpected expenses in developing a new diversion point.

After the completion of this project, beginning in 2009 annual adult steelhead monitoring began to better understand adult steelhead returning to the drainage. Results from the 2009-2010 seasons indicate large numbers of (>400 adult fish) adult steelhead are using the stream to spawn reiterating the importance of removing these fish barriers.

This project was previously identified in the SRSRB 3-year work plan as #35-00105.